

Bible Reading & Study
Blog posts in the “Bible Reading and Study” category tend to be practical: most concern HOW and WHY to read and study the Bible, but they also offer Bible readings plans and consider things like how to read a particular book or genre of Scripture. (For more specifics, see the Resources tab of this site.) These posts take to heart the words of St. Gregory the Great: “Study [Scripture], I beg you, and meditate daily on the words of your Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God.” Take a look through the posts pictured below, or start with one of these:
- God’s Word is Forever! 12 Reasons that Matters
- The 3 “P’s” of Fruitful Bible Reading
- 3 Steps to a Bible Reading Habit
- Choose from 3 Bible Reading Plans for Lent
- The ABCs of Reading St. Paul
- Which Catholic Bible Should I Use?

Pale brown hills of sand and rock rise on either side of the road from Jericho to Jerusalem and stretch as far as I can see. I want to call it "desert" but our guide insists on "wilderness": this is wild, uncultivated land that needs just a few showers to spring into bloom. Every year it turns green after the ...
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Our 18-month-old granddaughter stands ready to run, grinning over her shoulder as if to say, “you can’t get me, Grandma ... but please try!” When I start toward her she squeals and runs laughing into my arms. Bliss! Children are such a gift. When our kids were her age, though, I never imagined the deep joy it would bring one day ...
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We all watched, excited, as the sunfish splashed up from the lake and landed with a thud on the dock. My husband reached out to remove the hook but the fish slipped from his grasp. “Look Mommy, he’s dancing!” And sure enough, the fish did look to be dancing as it dangled and flopped at our feet. I can relate ...
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This weekend at the National Catholic Bible Conference in Houston, I spoke on "The Word of God in the Life of the Disciple." Scripture plays an important role in helping us ENCOUNTER Jesus and grow in RELATIONSHIP with him, and it fosters the TRANSFORMATION that is the hallmark of true disciples. As Catholics, we have a powerful encounter with the ...
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"Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord." (Esther C:12*) Have you ever felt like that? "Seized with mortal anguish"? I've never faced genocide the way Queen Esther did, but I have felt the "mortal anguish" of despair when we faced deep financial trouble ... when our baby's life hung by a thread ... when our son ...
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On Ash Wednesday we entered the desert of Lent. On Sunday, the Church tells us why. The mass readings lay out the problem and the start of God's plan and they set us on the right road for this 40-day journey to Easter. Will you come into the Word with me this Lent? Every Sunday during Lent I will reflect briefly on the ...
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Chrissie shut her Bible with frustration. “I get nothing out of this! How can you read it so much?!” I had told her that the Bible was like a love letter to her from God; that if she read it, she’d hear him speaking to her heart and life. Five days and who knows how many chapters later, Chrissie had ...
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What are your plans for the summer? My calendar's already filled with a family vacation and weekend trips and picnics. But work is lighter, and so are the days—leaving time for walks and books and doing nothing, if I want. Just seeing "Memorial Day" coming up next week makes my pulse slow down. I can't wait for summer. I have ...
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Have you heard of visio divina? I hadn’t, until I was asked to review Transformed by God’s Word, a wonderful new book by Stephen Binz. Immediately, I was intrigued by the subtitle: Discovering the Power of Lectio and Visio Divina. Lectio divina, I know well. But visio? Visio divina—“sacred seeing”— is an Eastern Orthodox tradition of contemplating sacred images, allowing ...
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